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Friday, June 26, 2009

Vegetable Harvest Report 01 2009

The first harvest from my rooftop container garden was an underwhelming 5.6 ounces of snow peas. They were very good, but I'm not sure if I personally like them enough to continue growing them. Something to think about.

Anyway, last year I decided I was going to record what my garden produces and compare it to what I would pay for the equivalent amount if I bought it at the Union Square Greenmarket. My hope is that the market value of the total harvest will exceed the total money spent, which right now is $201.90. Do you think I'll be able to make back all my money? Even if I don't it won't stop me from gardening!

Amount: 5.6 ounces
Average Price: $0.36/ounce

Weight Total: 5.6 ounces
Price Total: $2.02

Running Weight Total: 5.6 ounces
Running Price Total: $2.02

*Nobody at the greenmarket was selling snow peas so I went to 4 different supermarkets and averaged their prices. Also, none of the supermarkets were selling organically grown snow peas so I was stuck with the conventionally grown prices, oh well.

HoW many edible plants do you have and what varieties did you plant? Also, how big is your family? If you planted vegetables that are expensive, a lot of vegetables, or you have 4+ people in your family it will be easy to produce more than $200 in produce.

I'm not thinking about my expenses this year, since it's my first year of real gardening and I've had a lot of one-time expenses (tools, grow light, etc). It'll be interesting to see if I can break even next year, though.

My first harvest besides lettuce was snap peas that I picked yesterday. I picked about as many as you. I've got lots of flowers and lots of small pods growing so hopefully the harvests will get larger. -Jackie